While we at Bollywoodlife may personally believe our interest to be intrusive, we need to keep in mind what our readers want. And they do want to know more about Ash and the shape she is in…

For a while now we have been talking about Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her figure. For a while now we have been critically watching her bloom – literally – and become almost unrecognisable, especially when we think back to the lissome lass we first saw on the Miss India pageant stage, then the pretty young thing we watched onscreen in films like Iruvar and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and, of course, the beautiful bride we glimpsed in the few contraband photos we managed to sneak a peek at from her great big Indian wedding to Abhishek Bachchan. It was at Cannes last year that the former Miss World started looking as if she had been eating too many laddoos and while everyone suspected that Baby Bachchan was on its way, she hotly denied it, even shooting for Heroine…and we all know how that story ended, for sure!

Of course, a much-awaited pregnancy and the birth of Beti B followed, and even as we wait for official confirmation (will it ever come?) of the infant’s name to be Aaradhya, we see more – and considerably more than we like, believe you us! – of our lady of the gorgeous eyes and annoying giggle. She has been gradually expanding and now looks far larger (and far less pretty) than we would expect her to, considering that her daughter is five-plus months old. We will not say that if Lara Dutta Bhupati, Tara Sharma Saluja, Celina Jaitley Haag et al can be almost back in pre-baby shape, Ash can too, since everyone has a different body type and hormonal balance, honest, we do not think that at all. But what we do think and will say is that Aishwarya is a star, a celebrity, someone who has plans to get back into the spotlight and is, even now, honouring her professional commitments, so she should, ideally speaking, be ready to face the cameras and give of her best in every image, as far as possible. And looking like she did at a recent party in Mumbai, with many chins and lank hair, is hardly the best she can be, even if it was all about bad camera angles and being unprepared to be caught in the lens-eye.

All this is faithfully captured by our eagle-eyed reporters and photographers, just for you, our many readers. If you were not interested, you would not be looking at the stories, and you are indeed avidly interested, the numbers tell us. So for all of you who insist that we are being unfair when we talk about Ash and the shape she is in, here is a suggestion: Don’t ask us for the news and we will not tell it like it is!